Introduction

Things have finally relaxed. Our flat is almost completely redecorated, the kitchen is done, my parents have been here and left, and now I find myself with time in my hands - so I blog, among other things.

Today I'd like to introduce you to the newest members of our small household. For a very long time I have wished for them, although my hopes were quite modest and I never expected something like this:

My new aquarium!

I had hoped for a cute fishbowl with a couple of goldfish named Abi and Nepomuceno (Nepo, for short), perhaps a third one eventually, but that was all. Then one day my husband arrived home and asked me, "How would you like to have an aquarium?"

Apparently, some friends of ours who owned it wanted to buy a larger one and expand their fish breeding and, having heard my wish for fish, were willing to start me off with their old one and some fish. I was thrilled! Of course I said yes.

Therefore, allow me to introduce my little 'uns.

Forgive me for being biased, but he's my favourite! Meet Nepomuceno
(Nepo for short), a cardinal tetra.

Nepomuceno used to have a brother named Nemo. The day we went to pick up the aquarium and the fish, our friend had emptied it almost completely in order to be able to fish them out of the water more easily. Somehow, Nemo hid and our friend couldn't find it, and concluded he must have miscounted, or something similar.

The small amount of water and all the stones and plants remained in the aquarium and for an hour were tossed and turned during our drive back home. That evening, as I tried to put some order among them, we found Nemo! Hence the name. He was rather battered and a little bit dumb, but as soon as I put him in with the rest of the fish while I cleaned up the aquarium, he cheered up and ate with the rest.

A couple of days later he died, poor thing. Nepo is rather lonely, and because of the kind of fish he is he needs company, so when we get a chance, my husband and I hope to buy him some friends. [smile] To know more about his kind, click HERE.

Meet Gustavo and his Clan!

Gustavo and his Clan are swordtail fish. We have one male (notice the sword-shaped tail? Beautiful with black streaks) and three females. Because the only one who could be told apart from the rest was the male (the females are all alike, they don't have different physical characteristics) we decided to name him, and the rest as his clan. They reproduce very quickly so I hope to soon present you with a nursery. [smile]

To know more about the different kind of swordtail fish, click HERE.

Meet Abi, Cora and Unnamed-for-now, very orange, very dumb tiger
barbs.

They are also known as the Three Musketeers, although they used to be four. One of them was bullied to death by a swordtail female, so now they are the Three Musketeers. They are absolutely inseparable and quite funny in their dumbness.

We can name them because of their differentiating spots (or lack thereof) on their middle orange section. However, we still haven't memorized them, so for now they are Abi-Cora-Unnamed instead of being this one Cora and that one... you get the idea. We are thinking of a suitable name for the third. Any suggestions? We suspect they're all females...

To know more about tiger barbs, click HERE.

I must not forget the snails! No, the big one isn't their grandpa... it's a
shell I picked up from the shores of the Black Sea.

Included with the fish were plenty of snails. We must keep an eye on them because they reproduce with lightning speed and may become pests. However, I'm glad to see that the swordtails are keeping them at bay for now. They seem to really enjoy eating them up.

Who would know that one day I would own an aquarium and several fish, not just a fishbowl with two or three? Like I sometimes tell my husband jokingly, I have a new TV! Honestly, I have to check myself sometimes because I could sit down in front of it and watch the fish swim and play all day! My fishies are great and I really enjoy taking care of them!